PORTLfl
Volume XXI, Number 1
25<P
January 2,1991
"The Eyes and Ears o f The Community"
Follow Your Money: Union Member's Advice
BY JAMIE PARTRIDGE
AND DONNA HAMMOND
A
News
The New Year! How
New Is It by
McKinley Burt
PAGE 2
Religion
Working as A Team
by Mattie Ann
Callier-Sperars
PAGE 3
s \ World War II ended, thousands
if Portland blacks were thrown
out of their jobs at the shipyards. Tom
Carr, who had worked with a union
card as an electrician’s helper, learned
that his blue card was no longer valid.
Only white union cards were valid (held
by white craftsmen), according to Carr.
By 1959, after years of bouncing
around as cannery worker and poultry
worker, to railroad cook and track layer,
Tom Carr landed another union job in
the shipyards. The only construction
union in 1959 which would accept
African Americans-the laborers Union,
local 296.
UNION WAGES AND BENEFITS
“ I joined for the money,” says
Carr. Now, at age 68, Tom Carr is six
years into a good union retirement
pension after 31 years as a member of
local 296. Working in ship repair and in
construction, Carr enjoyed wages and
benefits worth 2 to 3 times that of a non
union laborer. ‘‘Medical, dental, vi­
sion, we have it all, plus job security.
The employer has to accept you if you
are sent out by the union dispatcher.
And you can’t be fired without a good
reason. If you’re harassed, the union
backs you up. that’s why I stuck with
it,” says Carr.
Laborer’s work is not easy work.
Its cleaning and picking up after other
craftsmen, such as electricians, carpen­
ters, sheetmetal workers,boilermakers,
or pipefitters. Its dirty, dangerous and
Tom Carr - Retiree Laborer 296
Percy Hampton-Laborer Local 296
Mrs. Monica Beasley waiting for a dispatch from Willie Hart
back-breaking work. In construction, its
all-weather work.
30-40% of Laborers local 296 is
Black. It’s the type of work where Afri­
can American males have traditionally
been allowed. But its union. Being a
member of local 296 is the difference
between making five dollars per hour
end making fifteen, according to their
current president of the union, Willy
Hart.
Hart would know. Before joining
local 296, he worked non-union con­
struction, non-union bricklaying, and as
a trucker, warehouseman, herdsman,
cannery worker, and ‘‘everything in
between’ ’. Leaving school at grade 10,
Hart bounced from job to job until set­
tling in with local 296 in 1973.” ‘‘Pay
your dues and follow your money is
what my brother-in-law told me. He
was president of the union at the time.
Now I’m in his position.”
According to Hart, he is the third
black President of the local, since the
first Black officers were elected in the
’60s.
BLACKS EXCLUDED BEFORE
1946
African Americans didn’t always
hold positions o f authority in the La­
borers Local. 296- was a “ Jim Crow”
local until 1946, says Hart. Only in the
‘60’s and ‘70’s, with momentum of the
civil rights movement, did significant
numbers of Blacks become members.
Percy Hampton remembers that his
father was not allowed to join. The
older Hampton had to join another con­
struction local (320) in Klamath Falls
and travelled from Portland every month
to pay his union dues. Other Blacks
joined a union local in Vancouver, Wash­
ington in order to work as ‘ ‘casuals” in
the Portland Kaiser shipyards.
Percy Hampton was familiar with
laborer work. So when the younger
Hampton dropped out of college, and
got frustrated with hopping from mini­
mum wage job to minimum wage job,
he settled into local 296 in 1974. Now
sixteen years later, having worked both
in the shipyards and in construction,
PLEASE SEE FOLLOW ON PAGE 4
Food Stamp Benefits Increase
M
Business Profiles
Lonnie Jenkins
PAGE 4
News
Worldwide End to
Polio Possible By the
21st Century
any Oregonians facing poverty
their utility costs are likely to increase
will receive more food stamps because of the winter cold. In addition to
beginning in January as the result utility
of the costs, food stamp benefits are based
higher cost of home heating brought by on household income, number of persons
cold winter weather. The increase is in in the household and living expenses.
the range o f two to three dollars worth of
The increase will only come to house­
stamps.
holds not receiving the maximum food
Food stamp recipients may use ei­ stamp benefits. They may get an increase
ther the standard allowance or their ac­ of several dollars per month with the new
tual utility costs if they are higher than Standard Utility Allowance. Those house­
the Standard Utility Allowance when holds currently receiving maximum food
applying for food stamps. In cither case, stamp benefits will not get an increase
Play it “Till 1951
PAGE 5
TER! ’ ’ Well, you know whose fault that
is don’t you? Federick McKinley Jones
on’t be alarmed, I now what
News
is responsible. He is the black mechani­
The Tax Form You've
year it is. It’s just that the ad­ cal genius who invented and patented
modem version of the REFRIFER-
vent of 1991 brings to mind that the
quote
Been Waiting For
from a jazz classic at the top of the ‘black ATED BOX CAR (No. 2,780.923; Feb­
PAGE 5
charts’ circa 1941, “ Boogie Woogie on ruary 12, 1957, and No. 2,696,086, Dec.
the St. Louis Blues.” [Earl (Fatha’) Hines], 7, 1954. And he contributed to Califor­
News
Think that’s corny? I wouldn’t ad­ nia’s grief by inventing the modem
vise
a
lot of you to tell your grandparents REFRIG ERA TED TRUCK (No.
Free Vision Exams
that. Probably, they were actin’ up in 2,475,841; July 12, 1949).
Available
Good Lord! How could he do such
1941, the jitterbug, slowgrind, fox trot,
PAGE 6 M
whatever. These ‘dances’ have succumbed a thing? Go and create a hundred billion
to a violent metamorphosis, parallel to dollar economic infrastructure in the states
the development of similar gyrations in of California and Florida-from citrus fruits
the socioeconomic sphere, so, if in fact, to avocados and from lettuce to toma-
their grandchildren are now “ acting” , tocs-all this wealth made possible by his
just what , exactly is ‘new’ about the advanced technology. This African
current scene...about 1991? “ The more American, self taught engineer and drafts­
things change, the more they stay the man also gave America more than 60
other fruits of his incredibly fertile mind.
, it has been said.
News
2 same”
It is a matter of ‘perspective’, isn’t These ranged from the first portable x-
Religion
3 it? Your viewpoint-quite often it hangs ray machine to the two-cycle gas engine
Business Profile
4 upon something as simple as whether we are all familiar with in our power
News
5 you are an optimist or a cynic. In lieu of mowers, and the automatic ticket dis­
News
6 having developed any better approach to pensing machine encountered at our mov­
other public events.
Classifieds
7 the ‘New Year’, I have settled for one ies and
Oh,
but in death he has paid dearly
very simple resolution; go for a “ PER­
Bids/Sub Bids
8 SONAL BEST” , as described in my for bringing Californians to the brink of
‘Perspectives’ column this week. I have­ economic disaster (by making their
n ’t the slightest doubt but what I (and this empires possible). In my book, “ Black
newspaper as well) will achieve this goal. Inventor’s of America” , I have assembled
Getting right on the establishment’s case- some pertinent background information-
His and Hers talks about
and with Black History Monthapproach- but, it wasn’t easy, for surely this man
Jealousy.
ing-lct me give the ‘WEATHER RE­ has been punished, there being so little
PORT’
in my usual informative and some­ of honor and memory to be found.
Portland Women Wins
For instance, when I first started re­
time satirical manner.
Nationwide Mature Model
“ MAJOR FROST HITS CALIFOR­ searching Jones’s background, I wrote
search.
NIA CITRUS CROP: GROWERS both the American Refrigeration Soci­
FACED WITH FINANCIAL DISAS- ety and The American Air Conditioning
BY PROFESSOR MCKINLEY BURT
D
INDEX
Wexf Week
with the move to a higher allowance.
Adult and Family Services, a divi­
sion of the Department of Human re­
sources. The stamps are distributed by
Adultand Family Services and by Senior
and Disabled Services. Together, these
agencies provide food stamps to some
90,000Oregon households,representing
209,000 citizens. The program is a key
financial ingredient in the household
budgets of Oregon’s working poor as
well as those who cannot work.
»»
Society (both with new York addresses
in 1968). Informed that the two technical
societies had merged, but had no evi­
dence that such a man ever existed, I,
nevertheless, kept up a barrage of que­
ries for over a year before getting any
result.
“ Dear Mr. Burt, we are afraid that
you are going to be terribly disappointed,
but the enclosed document is all that we
could find on the party in question.”
Enclosed I found a photostat o f his
membership card. It was stamped,’’DIED
1957, OWED MEMBERSHIP DUES OF
$25.” So much for our black American
genius who gave the world so much-but,
is there anything “ new” here? Will
some of us still wonder why the detrac­
tors of the ‘Baseline Essays’ scream “ It’s
all fiction, it never happened.”
What T’ wonder is how it is that so
many of our well-heeled black leaders
and organizations plead for respect and
recognition from the nation-and for in­
spired efforts to motivate our children to
educational cxcellencc-but it was the
establishment General Electric Company
which is 1988 contributed $25,000 to
save the birthplace of Lewis Howard
Latimer, the pioneer black electrical
inventor who patented the filament which
MADE EDISON’S LIGHT BULB
POSSIBLE!
Like I say , what’s “ new” ? “ The
more things change the more they stay
the same.” A ‘school kids’project or a
large ‘black church benefit’ could have
done the same thing.
Portland Music
Association Kicks
Off the New Year
T
he Portland Music Association
kicks off the New Year Tues­
day, January 8th, 1991 with a hot line-up
for the PMA New Talent Showcase.
The showcase is held the 2nd Tues­
day of each month following the PMA
General meeting at Key Largo. $3.00
admission.
8 P .M .- 1:30 A.M.
Featured Bands:
Bad Mothers-Original rock/pop band
featuring all women musicians featuring
clever, irreverent girl-bop tunes.
Ralph Archenhold Band-A crack
team of seasoned professionals backing
a talented songwriter and lovable enter­
tainer. A delightful blending of folk,
rock, country, and swing.
Red Over White-A musical breath
of fresh Northwest talent combines rock,
blues, gospel, funk, and country into a
concise package creating a sound that is
uniquely their own.
Shaded Gray-A rock band from
Vancouver playing their own original
compositions as well as a variety of
songs ranging from Richard Marx to
Pink Floyd to Chuck Berry.
The Movement
Still Continues
“Legacy to
Martin Luther King Jr.”
PSU
January 19, 1991
Lecturer: Norman Hill, National
President APRI
HMO Medicare Option Offers Seniors
Quality Care Security
M
edicare. For many people, the
word brings to mind reams of
paperwork, confusion and fears of rising
premiums and a loss of security. Many
seniors have turned to Medicare Supple­
ment plans, but were faced with higher
costs and inconsistent coverage. But
seniors can reduce the hassles and stress
of dealing with Medicare with a Medi­
care plan from a Health Maintenance
Organization.
The good Health Plan Medicare
Option from Sisters of Providence is a
prepaid health care plan for Medicare
beneficiaries. It adds coverage and sta­
bility to Medicare benefits and provides
a stable source of high quality care, this
program recently lowered its monthly
premium to $34,50-prcmium that is lower
than most supplemental insurance and
covers much more. The monthly pre­
mium for a typical supplemental insur­
ance policy can range from $40 to $ 120,
depending on the type of plan.
The enrollment period for the good
Health P!an Medicare Option plan is
open all year, unlike many programs that
have limited time period for enrollment.
Those interested in coverage from the
good Health Plan Medicare Option ef­
fective February 1, 199! must enroll by
January 5,1991,
Good Health Plan members assign
their Medicare benefits to the Plan and
receive health care services from the
Good Health Plan. In return, the Good
Health Plan manages the individual’s
health care program and handles all the
paperwork involved in claims process­
ing.
One of the primary differences be­
tween the Good Health Plan Medicare
Option and a supplemental insurance is
that the Good Health Plan has no deduct­
ible and can have a substantially lower
monthly premium.
For example, fora patient who visits
their physician once a month and has one
inpatient surgery in a year, the out-of-
pocket cost the good Health Plan medi­
care Option is $534.00. A typical supple­
mental insurance policy could cost the
patient as much as $2,200.00 for the
same services.
The Good Health Plan Medicare
Option is sponsored by the Sisters of
Providence health system in Oregon. The
Good Health Plan provides comprehen­
sive and convenient health care from
more than 1,000 private-practice physi­
cians and six regional hospitals. Patients
may choose their own physician from
the Plans’s 250 Primary Care Physi­
cians, a feature that may not be available
through other HMO Medicare plans.
Services covered through the good
Health Plan Medicare Option include:
routine office visits and physical exams,
hospital care, emergency and urgent care
anywhere in the world, eye exams and
eye glasses, laboratory and x-ray serv­
ices, ambulance, medical equipment and
supplies, physical therapy, occupational
therapy and speech therapy, skilled nurs­
ing facility and home health care, outpa­
tient mental health visits and nutritional
services. Co-payments are required for
some of these services.
Two major medical centers serve
Good Health Plan Medicare Option
members: St. Vincent Hospital and
medical Center on the west side of Port­
land and Providence Medical Center on
the city’s east side. Providence Milwaukie
Hospital, Newberg Community Hospi­
tal, Tuality Community Hospital and
Forest Grove Community Hospital are
available for plan members who live in
those communities.
The Sisters Of Providence is one of
the ten largest health care systems in the
United States. In Portland, it includes St.
Vincent Hospital & Medical Center, Ore­
gon’s first hospital, and Providence
Medical Center. Since Mother Joseph
and four other young Sisters of Provi­
dence arrived at Fort Vancouver in 1956,
they have carried out their mission of
teaching, caring for the sick and helping
the poor.